Описание
Los Angeles-based Funeral Party formed late one night while drinking in a park in Whittier, California, a sleepy suburb that sits on the outskirts of Los Angeles County. Chad Elliott, James Torres, and Kimo Kauhola formed Funeral Party as a means of escaping a nowhere town set amidst a cultural wasteland. The moroseness evoked by their moniker is undermined by Funeral Party's debut album, Golden Age of Knowhere, an up-tempo powerhouse that weaves a barrage of aggressively catchy melodies, propulsive basslines, and relentless rhythms with Elliott's raw, throaty vocals and the band's shouty group sing-alongs. The album opens with a triad of punchy tracks: "New York City Moves To The Sound of L.A.," "Carwars," and first U.S. single "Finale."
Golden Age of Knowhere is comprised of songs that "capture the urgency of youth." This undoubtedly reflects the context from which the band emerged. According to Elliot, "Whittier is pretty much a dead town. It's boring. That's one of the biggest reasons we wanted to be in a band, just to get the fuck out of there." Elliott's collaborators share his view of the landscape that bore Funeral Party, and the prevalent themes of Golden Age of Knowhere. "Everyone in our neighborhood is connected in some way," Torres explains, "and you're trapped. It's why I learned to play guitar, to tune it all out." Kauhola elaborates, "We definitely want the music to sound like an escape."
During the time of Funeral Party's inception, hardcore and metal bands dominated the local music scene. South of Whittier, in Orange County and Long Beach, screamo bands were popping up, and in Downtown Los Angeles, the burgeoning Smell scene was well underway. In the East Los Angeles neighborhoods adjacent to Whittier, however, a post-punk, dance-craze revival was exploding, garnering partygoers from all over Southern California.
Elliott, Torres, and Kauhola were well aware of the East L.A. backyard party scene and decided to book some parties, however, they needed a name first. Elliott brought the name Funeral Party to the others after a friend played him a Cure song of the same title. "We chose the name Funeral Party because it was just the most depressing song I'd ever heard," Elliott explains. "It was the perfect name for a band like ours because we come from this jail town: no one gets out until they're dead. We also liked the name because it sounded like a hardcore band, but it had the word 'party' in it, so it fit in on the East L.A. dance party fliers." Elliott concludes, "Initially, that name tricked people into seeing us."
Funeral Party began gigging every weekend, adding their own chapter to East Los Angeles's rich musical history. They owned no equipment and had to borrow gear from the other bands that played backyard parties and warehouses. Funeral Party was quickly embraced by the hundreds of dance-starved teenagers that came out to "jungle-juice" parties every weekend. This did not go unnoticed by law enforcement. Many Funeral Party gigs were shut down, usually before they played their first note, fuelling interest in the band and adding to their mythic stature.
Funeral Party was invited to record at The Mars Volta's studio in East L.A. They still had no instruments. "Back then, we only had three songs," explains Kauhola. Elliott adds, "I had no lyrics. I had to use raw emotion to summon the words. That's still how I write. I conjure emotions and they tell me what to sing." Torres reminisces, "It was an adventure recording those demos because we didn't have our own equipment, so we had sneak in during off-hours and use the gear that was already there."
The stage provided Funeral Party their only opportunity to write and practice.
